Shang Chen Music Appreciation Selected Composer: George Gershwin 1. Birth: Sept 26th,1898 1916-First song published 1924-Rhapsody in blue premier 1937-Dead because of brain tumor 2. George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn New York, used name “Jacob Gershwin”. He spent his most life in New York and then move to Hollywood, California in 1936 His life also ended in California. 3. George Gershwin studied piano from his teacher Charles Hambitzer, Charles called him as a little genius. Gershwin learned composition from Rubin Goldmark and Henry Cowell. He also learned from Maurice Ravel. He was willing to go Paris to learn classical music, but failed because of no good teacher. 4. George Gershwin learned to play piano from age 11. This was his main …show more content…
Gershwin was best known for his work Rhapsody in Blue. This orchestral composition is famous for its prominent use of jazz. One of the first people to compose with Jazz, he was a major contributor to the popularization of jazz music. This is evidenced in the fact that the likes of Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra have all recorded Gershwin songs.As a composer, he brought legitimacy to jazz music by making it more palatable to the typical consumers of classical music. 6. Gershwin composed music ranging from Broadway musicals to jazz and classical fusions. His major works were done in combining modern styles with classical techniques. 7. The piano was the compositional instrument of choice for George Gershwin. He used the piano to write his orchestral music, and early on composed piano rolls as well. 8. One of Gershwin’s main musical innovations was him unique combination of classical music with jazz sounds. He spanned the gap between radio composer and symphony composer. This allowed him to appeal to two distinctly different groups of people, more upper class people who were more likely to listen to symphonic music and less wealthy people who owned radios. Most Americans in the 1910’s and 1920’s were not listening to symphony music, but they were exposed to a symphonic composer over the radio. 9. Interest facts Gershwin sold piano rolls of his own compositions early in his career, although some were sold under pen names such as “Bert Wynn”. …show more content…
George worked with his brother Ida on many of his orchestral works. He never really had any musical adversaries, and he worked with many different people such as George S. Kauffman and Morrie Ryskind. He was taught by Maurice Ravel. He had a long term relationship with composer Key Smith. 11. George composed several different types of pieces. Some of his most famous works are orchestral symphonies, and he even wrote a piano concerto. He also composed two operas, and wrote for musicals on Broadway. He also wrote and composed songs to be played on the radio. He incorporated jazz and French styles into his works. 12. George Gershwin originally worked as a “Song Plugger:” someone who would play piano in music stores with a goal of trying to sell musical arrangements. Once he moved on to being a full time composer, he spent much of his early effort on Broadway musicals. Later on, George focused more on making symphonic compositions as well as his 1935 opera “Porgy and Bess”. 13. George was born to parents Morris (originally Moishe) and Rose Gershwine. He had an extensive intimate relationship with Key Smith, another composer. Smith’s granddaughter suggested the two never married due to Smith not being Jewish, which upset George’s